Fun around Zurich

Note:  Some of these pictures are chopped off in Blogger for some reason.  If you click on one, I believe you can scroll through them all and see the whole thing.

Mom arrived on August 1 in the morning.  Jason went down to the airport to get her.  She arrived at our house happy but tired after the long flight, so we all took the opportunity to nap most of the day away.  All of us but Luke, that is, and he had a great day doing his own thing.  

August 1 is Swiss National Day, so there were festivities going on down in Baden.  After naps, we walked down the hill to town (in the scorching heat), explored a bit, and then settled in the Theaterplatz to watch a band play and to eat.

Jason bought us some meat on a stick, bread, and fries to eat.  The meat on a stick was delicious - like ribs but without the bones and without having to touch it with your hands.  :)  Jenny, we could eat this stuff!  

Luke was our Swiss waiter.  

After the music and food, we got ice cream and then walked up the hill to rest a bit before fireworks.  At 9:30 or so we went down the street a bit to sit on a hill near our house to watch fireworks.  They shot them off from the castle.  We had a great view, and the fireworks were huge!  There were also families setting off their own fireworks in the soccer field just below us.  I couldn't believe how many people were doing it, and right in the middle of the grass.  I guess growing up in dry Texas summers, and with fireworks illegal in city limits, I am just not used to it.

The next day Jason pulled off a near-miracle.  He got our car insured, picked up license plates, and then went to get the car itself.  This involved a lot of running around (literally) in the heat, catching trains and trying to figure out how to get to places before they closed for the weekend.  We now have our car and have been able to drive around.  

In the meantime, mom and Luke and I walked to town again to pick up our internet box (and carry it up the hill!).  We took Luke to the really neat park in town (part of it is under a bridge) to play.

The next day we drove our car to Zurich to enjoy the lake.  We tried to rent some of the free bikes they have there, but we were too late.  Instead we walked around the lake a lot, found a place to put our blanket, had a picnic, and swam.  The water was chilly, but not too bad.  We all jumped off a pier and swam a bit.  

Mom, Jas, and Luke swimming into shore:

Luke did the swim twice and was tired!

On Sunday we drove into town again and went to church.  Before church we took mom up to an area tha overlooks the river and the old town part of Zurich.  Luke fed the pigeons here.  

This spot looked very different than it did in winter!

Today we made a big trip to Ikea to shop for a few things and eyeball some others.  We were there 3 hours!  Luke was amazing...again...we are so lucky.  Tonight my principal had the new teachers over for dinner, and I got to see the Paulsons again.  It was so good to see familiar, friendly faces, and to know that I will get to work with Kris again.  

We are all tired but excited for things to get moving.  Tomorrow is our first "official" day!  

We are thinking of friends all over the world who are headed back to school this week.  Have a great school year everyone!

Apartment Camping

On the 29th we got the keys to our apartment.  We spent about an hour and a half going over rules and regulations for living in a Swiss apartment that is also a new build, instructions on airing the place out and how to share a washer and dryer with other people, etc.  Also how to put salt in the dishwasher.

We moved in on the 30th, the day our shipment was supposed to arrive.  However, our shipment is in Rotterdam, stuck for now because of the sheer number of containers arriving in Europe right now.  We had some idea it would be as late as the 5th, but right now we are hoping for the 9th.  I am trying to be patient and upbeat about the situation, having known others whose shipments took months and months to arrive in Venezuela.  But, with mom here, I feel guilty that I don't have a proper bed for her to sleep on.  She is a trouper, though, and she's camping out with us.

I took pictures of the state of our place now for those who are curious.  Our school director (and friend)  brought us his patio table and chairs as well as the 6 suitcases/boxes of stuff we'd stored at his house since February and March.  So we unpacked those as much as possible, and here we are!

This is our living room/dining area.  It is long and narrow with a good amount of space.  The big window faces west and so is warm in the afternoon right now.  

The mattresses in the floor are two fold-up narrow twin mattresses provided by the school.  The box from our microwave is serving as our entertainment center (with computer on it and internet box next to it).  

Side note: we went to Germany on the 31st and bought a few things there, including fans, microwave, and coffeemaker).

Our kitchen now:

Built in trashcan and compost bin under the sink, dishwasher is the cabinet to the right of that.

Fridge is in the cabinet to the right of the oven, freezer under that - 3 drawers.

This is the room off the kitchen, which right now is our recycling center.  We have to figure out how to organize ourselves, as the recycling is only picked up once a month for some items, and cardboard and paper have to be tied together with string, etc... lots of guidelines to follow.  Today I bought a recycling organizer at Ikea, so that will help some.

This is the room behind the kitchen, which will be our office/craft room/library/workout room.  (On the floor - the art from the ECA art show that I needed to flatten out after it had been rolled up in a suitcase for 3 months).

Coat closet area with good storage - in between entryway and kitchen.

Luke's room

Hallway bathroom with shower in it.

 

Our bedroom 

My bathroom (with tub)

Missing for now are outdoor photos of patio/building, but those aren't finished so those photos will come later.  Also missing - photos of mom's room, but it looks just like Luke's, except more organized because she is in it.  :)

More to come when shipment is here.  :)  Keep fingers crossed for sooner than Friday!!!